“Enter through the narrow gate;

for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction,

and there are many who enter through it.  

For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life,

and there are few who find it."

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Matthew 7:13-14

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Most are on the road to destruction. We need to be among the few who are paying attention to the scriptures and find the gate that leads to life. So what and where is this gate?!

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The gate is not a what or a where, but a Who.

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John 10:1-10 explains:

“Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them meant. So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly."

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Acts 4:12 says (referring to Jesus from verse 10):

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”

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Jesus is the only means of salvation. So how can we receive it? 

Believe, repent, be baptized.

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Mark 16:16 tells us "The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned."

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Believing includes repentance as demonstrated in John 3:36 ""Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." The term "believes" is juxtaposed to "whoever does not obey" so we can see that those who believe do obey.  As you just read, the wrath of God remains on him who does not obey. 

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Scripture also states the call to repentance directly as seen in examples here:

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"Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God." Matthew 3:8

​“…I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too” Luke 13:5

​"‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent" Luke 24:47b

 "Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away." Acts 3:19

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Justification is obtainable through faith (justified = rendered just or innocent based on NET translator notes): 

"They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, obtainable through faith" Romans 3:24-25a

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What if you don't yet believe, how do you believe?

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Romans 10:17

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What did he do to save us?

​"...He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness;"

1 Peter 2:24a

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Notice in the verse above that his sacrifice for our sins makes salvation possible; "that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. His action enables an action on our part. He is "the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world" (1 John 2:2)  but that does not automatically save everyone. Why not? You'll begin to see the answer in a moment. 

 

Scripture further describes what he did. 

In summary, though he existed in the form of God, he voluntarily took on our form and nature to sacrifice his sinless life. He became sin for us, suffering on a cross unto death, the just for the unjust, so that we could be declared righteous by his blood and saved through him from God's wrath. He paid our penalty through his sacrifice to bring us to God as a demonstration of God's own love for us while we were still sinners. You can see that the scriptures declare these things are true:

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"Though he was God, he took on our form and nature and was obedient to the point of death: 

Scripture describes, "...Christ Jesus...who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death —even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:5b-8 

 

He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day.

“Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the  Scriptures said. There were many eye witnesses to his resurrection. "He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.  Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.” 1 Corinthians 15:3b-7

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​"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

2 Corinthians 5:21

 

​"But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath."

Romans 5:8-9

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​"For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.

Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God,
by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit." 1 Peter 3:17-18  

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​He freed us from the penalty for our sins by becoming a sacrifice to take them away:

​"Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin." Romans 3:24-25a

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"No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded." John 10:18

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​​Why did we need a sacrifice for sin?

Let's start with another question because it will lead to the answer. What is sin?

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4   

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That there is lawlessness tells us there is law and that God has requirements.

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​What law? Good question! 

There is a backstory behind the coming of Christ. You can learn about what the law has to do with your need for Jesus here (hint: you've been under a curse).  For the moment, know this:

 

There is a power at work in us

It is "...the power of sin that leads to death." Romans 8:2

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Sin causes physical death and a second death. Romans 8:10b says "...your body will die because of sin."

Scripture also tells us that after the earthly body dies, there is a perpetual destruction called "the second death."

 

What is the second death?

“Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.” Revelation 20:14 

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“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:8 

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"And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire." 

Revelation 20:15

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The two passages below inform us that the second death is eternal: 

"If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.” Mark 9:47-48

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"...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might," 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9

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You can see that there are 2 groups who suffer punishment of eternal destruction:

 

1.   Those who don’t know God

2.   Those who refuse to obey the gospel (good message, good tidings) of our Lord Jesus

 

Sin is the power that leads to the second death. ​"For the payoff of sin is death" Romans 6:23

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Yet each one of us has partaken.

"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard." Romans 3:23.

"as it is written 'No one is righteous, not even one'" Romans 3:10

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This is why we needed a sacrifice for sin! Apart from Christ, we are set for condemnation:

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"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God." 

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"Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed." John 3:17-20 

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But when Christ sacrificed himself, he made a way for us to be free from the power of sin:

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"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins." Romans 8:1-3​​​​​​

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Look at the enormity of that last verse again below and grasp the freedom Christ grants us through his sacrifice: